# Independent bookstores in Europe receive suspicious orders for thousands of books, prompting fears they'll be destroyed to train AI — sellers believe acquisitions are part of AI tech companies’ push to get more data

> One independent book retailer in Galway, Ireland, received an online order for 5,000 books, which would be elating for many shop owners, especially at a time when people prefer shopping online from major platforms like…

- **Source:** [Tom's Hardware](https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/independent-bookstores-in-europe-receive-suspicious-orders-for-thousands-of-books-prompting-fears-theyll-be-destroyed-to-train-ai-sellers-believe-acquisitions-are-part-of-ai-tech-companies-push-to-get-more-data?utm_source=gearopen.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=feed&utm_content=6a7c64322cec0f9d75b4bdc7)
- **Published:** 2026-08-12
- **Category:** AI & Bots
- **Tags:** #ai
- **Canonical:** http://localhost:4321/a/6a7c64322cec0f9d75b4bdc7

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_GearOpen's distilled summary. The full original article is published at Tom's Hardware (source link above); GearOpen does not republish the source's full text._